‘The Crown from the Crowd’ project: The royal family through the eyes of the public

Royal commentator, Jennie Bond has announced an exciting new project encouraging members of the public to raid their attics and photo albums for unseen photos of the Royal Family.

Photo Credit: Leah McQueen/Photobox

She served as the BBC’S Royal Correspondent through 14 of the most turbulent years the monarchy has seen and now she has made a call-to-action for the public’s help.

Over 300 of the best photos will be collected and turned in to the first edition of ‘The Crown from the Crowd’ charting the evolution of the personalities of the House of Windsor.

And with over 50,000 royal engagements taking place since the Second World War, there are bound to be some great pictures hidden away that are just begging to be brought back in to the public domain.

Photo Credit: Christina Barker/Photobox

The 160 page book is to be commissioned by Photobox, Europe’s largest photographic community and to make the project even more exciting, the first edition will be given to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as a ‘gift from the nation’ on their special wedding day.

Jennie Bond says “The marriage between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle marks a seminal moment in the history and evolution of the Royal Family.”

“To think, even decades ago, that a previously married, American actress would be welcomed into the bosom of the Royal Establishment with such genuine warmth shows how far the Crown has changed.”

The project will see all profits being donated to Help for Heroes and with a £100,000 target, the money raised by the book will be going to a brilliant cause.

Alongside the public’s personal photographs of the royals will be images taken by some of the UK’s leading royal photographers and these will also be accompanied by additional narrative and social commentary from Dominic Sandbrook, a leading cultural historian and best-selling author.

He says “The story of the Royal Family has always been woven into our national fabric, but this project offers a brilliant opportunity to explore it in an entirely different way.”

“This won’t be an official, manicured history, but a genuine people’s history, told through the eyes of ordinary people themselves, from the austerity of the 1950’s to the abundance of today.”

Dominic will take the readers through an alternative modern social history of the Elizabethan Era focusing on the evolution of the buttoned-up conservative royals of the post-war era to the more relatable royal personalities we see today.

Photo Credit: Brooke Rose O’Brien/Photobox

Rory Scott, a spokesman for Photobox who will be commissioning the book, says “This is nothing short of a photographic archaeological quest for long lost royal treasures lying forgotten in the nation’s attic archives. A blend of royal reportage and citizen photojournalism. It’s a true world first.”

The Crown from the Crowd will be published on Tuesday 8th May RRP £25.

So if you think you’ve got any fantastic royal photos to provide and possibly see published in the book, make submit them via the www.crownfromthecrowd.com website.